The Auburn football team had already practiced four times before Wednesday's practice began. But those workouts, in helmets and shorts, weren't quite the real thing.

The real thing came Wednesday, with AU's first workout in full pads. The Tigers went for about an hour and a half, including some of the most physical drills of two-a-days, before lightning forced an end to the practice.

"That's all we have been talking about," Ricks said. "We tell the offensive guys what we're going to do to them when we get the pads on, so we have to come through. There was a lot of trash-talking before we came out here.